Update on Kate Hunt in Florida

According to the article the minor was 14 at the time. They were both on the Basketball team at the time and Kate was booted off the team and the basketball team coach called the minor's family and told them about the affair which indicates they did not know initially.

Looking at Kate she looks like a waif so I hardly think she was forcing herself on anyone so I consider that off the table for the moment. The investigation seems rather sloppy or non-existent because the parents of the minor pressed charges with the police.

Under Florida Law after she is convicted of this felony the minor's family can file suit against Kate's family because under Florida Law she is living at home and under their care and not considered an adult-adult of 24.

The question I would have right now is why does the minors need a lawyer and why is this lawyer represent her when she is not charged with a crime? If he represents the minor then maybe this is about money despite what her attorney Sullivan says.

Kate Hunt seems defeated and is hoping for a better "plea deal" which is sad and ruining a child's life over a lesbian fling is pretty sick if it is about money and not justice. It seems Kate has accepted the act she is guilty but this seems a little weird to be charging her with a law that was intended to prevent pedophiles and predators from targeting young girls and boys.

The real problem here is they have put this kid in a position where she has to risk 15 years in jail and being labeled a sex offender for life to clear her name verses a plea bargain that labels her a felon for life. The courts in Florida have done this to boys all too many times, most minorities, and now they seem to be misapplying the law again possibly. I wonder if they would charge if the minor was a boy of that age?

Equal under the law sometimes means you get shafted like those you should be equal with.

10 comments:

Anonymous
said...

on the issue of why the minor has an attorney, and without looking to see if he is a Plaintiff's attorney or one who handles criminal defense, these cases have also been of the type where sexting was involved. In my area, we have had a significant uptick in juveniles being charged with kiddie porn as a result of sexting. Our firm has been getting a couple of calls a week on those types of cases...

Whilst I stand by most of my comment on your previous post, I would like to retract my statement that "she's getting off easy"

Perhaps she is getting off easier than many males do/would, it's hard to say overall, fact is, males and females (no matter what people might say or want or believe) are NOT the same, whether the consequences she faces here would/will effect her life (long term) as much as the consequences a male might face would/will effect THEIR life, I guess can't be truly known.

Personally, I believe that most positives and negatives of being one sex or the other balance out in the long run, what frustrates me is when someone believes they should be "entitled" to special treatment based on sex or sexual circumstances.

What frustrates me MORE is when ignorant people (and almost ALL people ARE ignorant) support their belief.

This case is absolutely and completely frustrating in that there seems to be an allocation of the events in that the 18 year old girl had sex with a 14 year old girl how is this discrimination against same sex couples if the 18 year old was a boy there would not be this out cry people would say he deserves to be prosecuted and many many are ..you don't like the law then have it changed through legislation now the ACLU are making this there soap box claiming it's discriminatory..how this is about age difference plain and simple a 14 year old cant consent to having sex kate was 18 doesnt matter they were going to school or on the same basketball team the law is the law you dont like it change it she should have taken the plea deal if it goes to trial I hope she gets the max cause the plea deal was very lenient and I am personally sick that the ACLU and the LGBT group are making this such a rally cry...so they basically think an 18yr old should have sex with a 14 year old its pathetic

No doubt the law is clear. Adults, (18+one day) cannot legally have sex with minors. There is no mention of sex or gender.

My question is how much discretion is available to the prosecutor and/or the judge. It will be interesting to see how much the prevailing permissiveness and "special consideration" afforded to gays will affect this prosecutorial discretion.

1: Kate Hunt is screwed and probably should have taken the plea deal. Especially since we now know that she was 18 when the relationship started, and actually tried to arrange a meeting with the other girl after the parents had asked her to stop. She'll be lucky if she doesn't do significant jail time.

1a: Kate Hunt is not a predator. She is, however, monumentally stupid. I think our age of consent laws are a clusterfuck and locking her away under laws designed to protect children from actual predators violates the spirit of such laws on a fundamental level. It should not be illegal for teenaged classmates to date or have sex with each other. However, the laws are what they are, and it's rather clear Hunt didn't respect them one bit. No matter how little you respect a given law, it's idiotic to flout it.

2: Kate Hunt and her parents have set the LGBT movement back a good 5 years. Good job playing to the old stereotype of gay adults recruiting children and turning them gay. This isn't Europe, where something like this is no big deal at all (most age of consent laws are 14 or 15 and most prosecutors in Europe would not give two shits).

I don't agree that she is necessarily screwed. That the plea was rejected at this time does not mean it is the last time it will be offered or that some other plea wouldn't be put on the table. Plea offers either tend to stay the same or get better the longer a case drags on...rare is the instance that it becomes a case of reject and go straight to trial.

I also don't agree that the lesbian/gay rights movement has been set back in any manner...this isn't a case of Aunt Creepy being pedophilic. At its essence, this is still high school kids being high school kids. Is it an ideal situation, no...and there is no question that the parents have not done anyone any favors by turning this into a media circus. That is not something that works to the advantage of counsel, although a sympathetic defendant is also not someone the prosecutors like seeing in the media.

I see cases like this (in terms of age difference) on a regular basis. Only rarely are they same-sex in nature, but the dispositions tend to be similar. The best thing for Kate is for her family to shut the fuck up though and quit tainting the prospective jury pool...

Merchandise, people. The Hunts are a seriously fucked up family, and the dad is a disgraced cop who got caught making up facts on the job. At this point anything they say must be taken with a block of salt.

This isn't a case of kids being kids as kate is an adult. Not taking the deal might prove to be a horrid mistake since she would have jad the chance to keep tje felonies off her record amd not be a registered sex offender.